Sign Up and Save

Jose and Silvia Barrera are the owners. Their oldest son, Andres Barrera, 19, fills in where needed, and Jose’s parents, Maximiliano and Ernestina Barrera, work in the kitchen using family recipes.

They boast that their salsas are made throughout the day and tamales are handmade with fresh masa and wrapped in corn husks.

Customer favorites include the Chile Relleno and the pork tamale under the build-your-own section of the menu, as well as Luna Azteca’s specialties like the chicken mole and Carne Asada (USDA choice steak grilled in an authentic Mexican style and garnished with guacamole and grilled green onions).

They weren’t looking to open a second restaurant until Village at Burlington Creek approached them.

“We stumbled upon the restaurant and really liked the food and the service,” said Brian Votava, broker for the Village at Burlington Creek.

Two new coffee shops

While some coffee shops claim to have the

best

coffee around, a new Waldo shop is humbly named Second Best Coffee.

That’s because owners Nathan and Leia Anderson want to continually improve their offerings.

“If we served the best cup of coffee today what would be the fun of coming in tomorrow?” said Nathan Anderson. “We are always looking to make it better and better. Call it Midwestern modesty.”

The new coffee shop — at 328 W. 85th St., on the southern edge of Waldo — is described as an “espresso-centric slow bar.” So don’t expect a quick stop.

The Andersons and their employee, Phil Hall, take pride in the coffee-making process using single-origin coffee. A custom-built Slayer Espresso machine is the centerpiece of the shop.

There is a small retail area selling Second Best Coffee T-shirts and single-origin coffees from a variety of roasters, including PT's Coffee Roasting Co., a Topeka-based coffee roaster.

• Zach Moores is “deep in demolition” for his new coffee shop in the Colonial Shops.

Moores is taking nearly half of the Pride Cleaners space at 300 E. 51st St., by the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and plans to open Crows Coffee there in late April or early May.

It will sell coffee by local roasters and locally made pastries and baked goods. But because it is by the Harry Wiggins Trolley Track Trail (and because Moores is a runner and cyclist), he also wants to offer smoothies and iced drinks.

The shop will have a crow silhouette as part of its logo since crows are a favorite of Moores.